TECHNOLOGY - EDWARDS GLASSedwardsglass.com/pdf/June_2000_CAM_Mag.pdfThere was never at any time any kind of adversarial relationship. Everybody spoke frankly and openly about the issues

JUNE 2000 VOL. 21 • NO. 6 • $3.00

P U B L I S H E D B Y T H E C O N S T R U C T I O N A S S O C I AT I O N O F M I C H I G A N

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COOKING UPCOMERICA PARK

A Look At WhatMakes Up The NewTigers Home Plate

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TECHNOLOGYUPDATE

Cyberspace AndThe Buyers Guide

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PENOBSCOTBUILDING GETS

MAKEOVERGiving New Life ToDetroit’s Landmark

Skyscrapers

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GLASS ANDGLAZINGThe Latest In

Clear Technology

GLASS ANDGLAZINGThe Latest In

Clear Technology

Glass — like no other buildingmaterial — allows the world topour into the indoor spaces of

our daily lives. Glass is the defining ele-ment of Eastern Michigan University’saward-winning sports arena and convo-cation center in Ypsilanti. A strikingradius glass and aluminum curtain wallforms the entire north elevation of the205,000-square-foot building. This stun-

ning concave wall of glass — 24-foothigh and 235-foot long — spans thelength of a promenade perched abovethe bowl of the EMU football stadium.Visitors to the center’s two-story lobbyenjoy a dramatic view through the cur-tain wall and over the expanse of the stadium — a bowl of bright green turfsurrounded at game time by rows ofcheering fans.

G L A S S / G L A Z I N G

54 CAM MAGAZINE JUNE 2000

EDWARDS GLASS EXPANDS EMU’S FIELD O

VISIONARY THINKING

Glass — like no other buildingmaterial — allows the world topour into the indoor spaces of

our daily lives. Glass is the defining ele-ment of Eastern Michigan University’saward-winning sports arena and convo-cation center in Ypsilanti. A strikingradius glass and aluminum curtain wallforms the entire north elevation of the205,000-square-foot building. This stun-

ning concave wall of glass — 24-foothigh and 235-foot long — spans thelength of a promenade perched abovethe bowl of the EMU football stadium.Visitors to the center’s two-story lobbyenjoy a dramatic view through the cur-tain wall and over the expanse of the stadium — a bowl of bright green turfsurrounded at game time by rows ofcheering fans.

By Mary E. Kremposky, Associate Editor

A triangular canopy and a skewed glass vestibule mark the distinctive entrance to the EMU Convocation Center.

PHOTO BY: JUSTIN MACONOCHIE, HEDRICH BLESSING PHOTOGRAPHERS. PHOTO COURTESY OF EDWARDS GLASS CO.

CAM MAGAZINE JUNE 2000 55

The project earned a 1999 Detroit AIAHonor Award, but most football and bas-ketball fans streaming towards thelobby’s ticket windows are probablyunaware of the effort and labor requiredto create this unique space. As the pro-ject’s glass and glazing contractor,Edwards Glass Co. of Livonia helped toselect the glass and to design a customanchoring detail – both geared towardsmaking the glass as transparent and thealuminum framing as unobtrusive as pos-sible.

DETAILS, DETAILSEdwards’ objective was to make their

work disappear. The glass itself is a high-performance Low-E product that offeredthe university a transparent glass withperformance equal to or better than tintedor reflective glass, said Jerry Wordhouse,president of the firm. Older Low-E prod-ucts still have a slight blue tint or reflec-tivity, but the newer coatings are almostas clear as uncoated glass, added ErikWordhouse, project manager.

Jerry Wordhouse describes it as a “neat,clean detail” that replaces the convention-al anchor detail - usually a heavy, clunky6-by-6 pair of steel angles anchored to thestructural steel with heavy, half-inchbolts. “We were able to accomplish thestrength that we needed by simply ...

welding a threaded rod onto the structureitself, and coming forward in the back ofour mullion,” Jerry said.

The crew welded a three-quarter inchthreaded bolt or rod to the horizontalstructural steel beam installed mid-waydown the curtain wall. The approximate-ly 5-inch long threaded rod comes for-ward and is threaded into the back of thevertical mullion. This one threaded boltper mullion attached at the mid-point ofthe curtain wall stabilizes the wall forwind load.

The custom anchor detail also helps thecrew adjust the mullion to achieve perfect

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plumbness. By moving and adjusting thethreaded bolt, the glazier can make verti-cal and lateral adjustments, creating aperfectly plumb and level mullion. “It iseasy to anchor it off to the building, but itis not so easy to get it plumb,” said Jerry.“As soon as any one of all these mullionsstarts to tip one way or the other and getout of plumb then the whole wall lookstotally distorted. The anchor detailallowed us to incorporate the adjustabili-ty that we needed to bring the system intoplumbness.”

The architect initially specified aunique anchoring approach that would strip the curtain wall of any heavymechanical connections. Erik Wordhousedevised the detail of this unique anchor-age system. Edwards Glass then created afull-size mockup of the custom detail toshow the project team. “The mock-upshowed exactly how this would operateand how it would look,” said Jerry. “Ithink in the final analysis that convincedeverybody we were on the right track.

“…This detail was something unusual,and everybody was sensitive to the liabil-ity issues,” Jerry continued. “This is actu-ally the structure of the building — it’sthe exterior wall — and if it failed, wewould, of course, have a massive problemon our hands. The detail was thoroughlyexamined and looked at twice before wewent forward. What actually materializedwas the culmination of the efforts ofmany people on the team, with us kind ofspearheading the effort.”

To further shape this “invisible” curtainwall, the lobby’s interior vertical steelcolumns align with the vertical mullions;the horizontal steel beam midway down the wall perfectly alignswith the respective center line of alu-minum framing. The transparent glass,the discreet anchor detail and the alignment of interior columns with thecurtain wall frame all ensure the patron a stunning vista of the footballfield below.

“We tried to turn the stadium into ashowpiece,” said Erik. The project teamcertainly succeeded. Besides the glassselection and custom anchor detail, thesuccessful execution of the curtain walldesign was the result of the glaziers from Edwards Glass wholabored on the project. “The success ofthis job was truly related to the ability of

the men who were on the job,” Erik said.“We had a skilled person fabricating it,and the guys erecting it paid a great dealof attention to detail.”

At night, a crown of lights attached to the wall’s projecting steel outriggingilluminates the glass wall and the lobbyinterior. Football fans can view the litlobby of the convocation center duringnight games; those attending gala eventsor basketball games can survey the sweepof the football stadium below.

Minus the steel outrigging and a concrete footer at its base, this magicalwall of glass was shaped by the able crew

members of Edwards Glass and by thedesign input of the project team. Edwardsalso fabricated and installed the four-and-a-half-foot aluminum insulated panelsthat rise above the 24-foot, 3-inch wall ofglass.

OPEN COMMUNICATIONThe design/build team of Rossetti

Associates Architects, Barton MalowCompany and Barton Malow Designawarded the glass and glazing contract atan early date and fostered a true spirit ofcooperation and teamwork. “The struc-tural steel and glass contracts were

High-performance Low-E glass and a custom anchoring detail shape this stunning wall of glassthat offers a commanding view of the football field from the lobby interior.

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awarded at the same time,” said Erik,“which allowed the steel contractor towork with us in accommodating the glasssupport element.”

Open communication proved to be asimportant as the custom anchor detail inkeeping the project on pace.Edwards Glass accomplished thejob in about six months using twoto four men working from fall1998 to spring 1999. “The coopera-tion level of the contractor wasjust phenomenal,” Erik said. “…Iwas allowed unprecedentedaccess to the architects. If I had aquestion, I would just call BartonMalow, send my question toArgos, and I would have ananswer back in minutes. It wasunbelievable. I’ve never seen any-thing like it.

“...Barton Malow and all of the subcon-tractors were willing to discuss issues, towork together to resolve problems inorder to keep the project moving,” Erik

continued. “I think that was the key to thisproject. There was never at any time anykind of adversarial relationship.Everybody spoke frankly and openlyabout the issues and the project could thenmove forward.”

ODD ANGLESEdwards Glass had to shape other

unconventional configurations for this

university showpiece. The buildingentrance features an oddly angled greencanopy and an enclosed glass vestibulethat is partially embedded in the buildingand partially projects out into the front ofthe structure. These shapes clearly identi-

fy the building entrance of thismassive complex and add detailand richness to what could havebeen a dull, institutional mono-lith.

The translucent green canopyis formed of fiberglass reinforcedplastic panels. “The canopy is avery unusual use of that particu-lar material,” said Jerry. “It isnormally used in vertical appli-cations. The architect was quitecreative in using it as a canopydeck.”

The 100-by-40-foot almost tri-angular canopy is propped up like a puptent by a large steel pole. While mostcanopies slope downward from the build-ing face, this canopy tilts upward at a

This canopy is the only one that I have ever seen — and I’ve been in this

business for almost forty years — wherethe entire canopy is set off from the

structure itself on these support pins…The canopy is literally floating

above the structure below it.Jerry Wordhouse, president

Edwards Glass Co.



skewed angle — sloping back towards thebuilding and slanting down to one side.

The canopy floats on a series of steelstand-offs — steel support pins projectingfrom the surface of T-shaped pieces ofsteel that form the canopy’s supportstructure. “This canopy is the only onethat I have ever seen — and I’ve been inthis business for almost forty years —where the entire canopy is set off from thestructure itself on these support pins,”Jerry said. “The canopy is literally float-ing above the structure below it. …It is very striking and very unusualto have a canopy that stands off about 6inches above the steel structure.” TheEdward’s crew had to align the canopy’sgrid of dark lines with the line of the steelstand-offs.

Beneath the tilted canopy is part of thebuilding’s glass entry vestibule, formed ofstorefront and sloped glazing, set in a cus-tom-painted aluminum frame. EdwardsGlass custom fabricated both the canopyand the glass vestibule.

The glass-roofed vestibule is built in theshape of a rectangle that “penetrates themass of the exterior wall on a diagonalformed by the radials of the lobby’s northglass wall,” according to the Detroit AIAHonor Awards jury. Aceiling panel containing lights and air dif-fusers visually splits the rectangularvestibule in half on a slanted diagonal,almost forming two triangles. One triangle is embedded in the building inte-rior, penetrating the lobby at a skewedangle; the other triangle projects outsidethe building on a slanted diagonal.Altogether, the vestibule forms an interest-ing convergence of angled lines with thetilted canopy directly above.

SAW-TOOTHED WINDOWSA long row of projecting windows

echoes the vestibule’s slant. The windowsall along the lower level of the east andwest elevations project in a saw-toothedpattern from the building’s face, addingfurther dash and flair to this massivesports and convocation center.

“The building exterior — and interiorcorridor — is basically a large, flat space,but by creating windows in a saw-toothedpattern — the architect gives the buildingsome relief and some texture,” Jerry said.

The slanted windows required theEdwards crew to marry together an

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assortment of materials, including thegalvanized steel forming the interior win-dow soffit and sizeable sill and the cus-tom-painted aluminum window framedirectly surrounding the glass.

The radius curtain wall, tilted canopyand vestibule and saw-toothed windows,dispel the “box feeling” common to olderand more conventional sports arenas. Thearchitect also added several large roundwindows to break up the building’s mass.

“When you drive up, you aren’t over-whelmed by the mass of the structureitself,” Jerry said. “The visitor focusesmore on these visually attractive elements and does not see a huge auditorium-type structure. I think thearchitect did a fabulous job of puttingtogether the design elements.”

The project’s scope also included glaz-ing for all other windows and entrances,the furnishing of hardware, a skylightcanopy, handrail glass, suite glass andbullet-resistant teller windows at the tick-

et booth. The convocation center is one of the

more challenging projects the firm hasundertaken in recent years. The project’sintricacies were “anticipated during thebidding process, … but it took an incredi-ble amount of coordination and planningto pull it off and keep it on schedule,”said Jerry. “The schedule was very, verytight and again I emphasize the coopera-tion of Barton Malow — it wouldn’t havehappened in a normal contractor-subcon-tractor relationship.”

Added Erik, “I think design/buildteam should be complimented for open-ing up the communications pipeline andrespecting the need on a fast-track projectto communicate instructions quickly.”

Glass is a powerful element in thisaward-winning center. In business forover forty years, Edwards Glass Co. hadthe experience and skill to successfullyexecute this challenging glass and glazing contract. This transparent

wall of glass transforms the center into asignature building that can only add tothe university’s recruiting efforts and allow students, alumni and visitorsthe pleasure of viewing a great space.

DETROIT AIA 1999 HONOR AWARD“TEAM ROSTER”• Design Architect: Rossetti Associates

Architects• Architect of Record: Barton Malow

Design• Design Builder: Barton Malow

Company• Engineers: Limbach Company –

Mechanical/Electrical• Peter Basso Associates – Mechanical

Overview/Electrical Consultant• McClurg & Associates, Inc. – Structural• Beckett & Raeder, Inc. –

Civil/Landscape• Acoustics – Boner Associates

TECHNOLOGY - EDWARDS GLASSedwardsglass.com/pdf/June_2000_CAM_Mag.pdfThere was never at any time any kind of adversarial relationship. Everybody spoke frankly and openly about the issues

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